Discussion of sources, development, and uses of virtual reality concepts in secondary school pedagogy. The author has created a successful virtual community off line for use as a career/college experience for secondary school students.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Committees have formed around civic problems: public helath and safety, streets and sidewalks, etc. The debates actually began last week when one committee put forth the proposition for Harrington City to "go green". That committee presented the proposition to only a special interest group: a committee that is studying the street and sidewalk problem and who has already purchased dump trucks that are not "green". They argue that "green" dump trucks would cost $1 million apiece. The "Greening Harrington" committee become discouraged.

However today, this morning, 7:30 to 8:17 am first period, on the last Monday before Winter break, an entrepreneur who is starting a casino, put forth the proposition to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18. He has written out his proposition, made enough copies for each memeber of the class to sign, and now, a general debate as begun about how to decide if the proposition should be passed. A list of pros and cons has started at the front black board, (pros: other countries don't have limits, help the economy, the true adult vs the adult "label"; cons: more deaths related to the teen population, 18-21 don't know limits, more crime, more bige drinking). The debate results in a compromise: limit the hours of under-21 drinking, and monitor this for a year, then change or add to the ordinance.

What transpired during this discussion included: parliamentary law review, debate protocol, and no heads down on desks. One student, who asked to go to the breakfast table in the lobby, forgot to go, instead joining in the debate. In fact, this student suggested that this scenario could be written up as a year or two in the future, and the results determine how the ordinance would be decided.

The "Greening of Harrington" committee has asked to present during the next class with a new strategy.

What does this have to do with "literature"? My answer this morning is: they are writing their own literature.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Today, the class reached the "governance" stage: two of the young men wrote on a piece of paper in pencil proclamation that they were the rulers of the city and that they were going to be in charge. They ceremoniously taped their proclamation the black board at the front of the classroom. There immediatley arose a clamour from another student -- a young woman -- who loudly voiced her opinion that "they can't just do that!" This alerted others who were going about their business. "Can they just do that?"

My explanation was that no one had made any laws, there was no government in place. The two class mates had gotten together and made something happen. Now, they had to consider one of Harrington's two "Prime Directives": No crime may be instigated. Was there a crime instigated? To decide, I advised them to take a look the history of how governments came into being. One member of the class immediately respnded: "Divine Right!"

Monday, November 26, 2007

Last week, just before Thanksgiving, the most recent class seemed to have reached a plateau -- they had some print outs of pictures of their buildings, and began pen and pencil lists of retail store inventories, service business equipment, some furniture, some rudimentary job descriptions. They didn't automatically word process descriptions, nor had they automatically entered into the realm of the "scenario".

A "scenario" is the term I use to describe the "story" behind the object: How did you decide on that building? What kind of person would you hire for that job, and what would you pay them? Benefits? The scenario is the descriptive narrative that rounds out the inventory of objects that constitute the virtual existence of a participant in a virtual world. The more real the details of the scenario, the more roundedness, the more value in the experience.

The value of research...talking up the choices of details, this began a buzz in the class -- the students were making inquiries and choices that made sense to them, that were of value to them. Instead of waiting around for the last bell to sound and go home to turkey and tv, they were making plans for the future.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

I started a virtual high school role-play community for college and career exploration in 1998, named Harrington City. It was just after Winter Break, and those young men and women in my standard level senior English class were not about to start the last months of public school by reading another novel! I had taught shop on and off for six years, and was much inspired all along by Eliot Wigginton and his Foxfire (c) project in Red Gap, Georgia: my interpretation was: have your students make a study of their immediate world, following their God-given hearts' desires, and their drive to acquire adult vocational competencies, and the curriculum will be served. I will describe this source and the many others that were the inspiration for this, in forth-coming entries. The results have been -- without exception -- spectacular, awesome.

In the coming times, I shall attempt to blog the progress of the efforts of my Harrington Project classes. The Founders Class, that first group of restless, hungry teenagers, are now out there, somewhere. One young man suddenly appeared in front of my desk, one afternoon, two years ago.

"Remember me?"He had been particularly troubled, from a tragic childhood, and had struggled to just barely fit in to American public high school -- he had an accent, and felt the pull of returning to the European country of his childhood, as soon as he came of age and could get away from his father. He hated being in America, but really hadn't figured out who he was. He was one of the students who was going to make that Spring semester insufferable -- he particularly enjoyed quarreling with spoiled Americans. Back then, when I asked him what he enjoyed doing most, he replied: "I want to sail my sailboat."

And here he was, five years later, telling me he had to come back to thank me.

"You saved my life. I had to come back and tell you and thank you. I just got back with my college debate team from a tour of Europe. I am the captain, and we won more competitions than ever in the history of the university. I also had to tell you that I just won a gold metal in single shell rowing at the Dad Vail Regatta. I'm graduating in a month with a bachelor's in economics, and I going back to Europe to a job that my father and I found together. I'm planning on grad school because the company will pay for it. I was going out of my mind in high school, and then we started playing that game in your class. And I built my marina. I saw that I could sail my boat and make a living. You saved my life, and I wanted to come back and tell you and to thank you."

I started a virtual high school role-play community for college and career exploration in 1998, named Harrington City. It was just after Winter Break, and those young men and women in my standard level senior English class were not about to start the last months of public school by reading another novel! I had taught shop on and off for six years, and was much inspired all along by Eliot Wigginton and his Foxfire (c) project in Redburn Gap, Georgia: my interpretation was: have your students make a study of their immediate world, following their God-given hearts' desires, and their drive to acquire adult vocational competencies, and the curriculum will be served. The results have been -- without exception -- spectacular, awesome.